Long term not because there's a ton to do, but because I'll probably do it in small bits because I have way too many projects as it is.
A bit of history - This car was bought on 10.3.79 from Graafsma Ford in Randolph, WI (dealer no longer exists).
From the paperwork that was saved, it got hit on the drivers side door in 91', and the door was replaced at that point, but otherwise it's life was relatively uneventful thru the late 90's when my dad bought it for $1200 at a garage sale with 79,000 miles on it.
He drove it for a few years off and on (the first time I rode in it was a drive from Madison, WI to near Detroit in 97' or 98'), but it ended up parked in the back yard under many layers of tarp from around 2000 till 2008. During that time, he built up a collection of parts to put on it, got a set of 79' 302 heads from a T-bird and had them ported and polished, and eventually in 2007ish he ended up pulling the car into the garage to start work.
He finished the partial restoration in 2008 with the intent on moving to Oregon, but then the recession hit and he couldn't sell his house, so the Pace car once again got put on the back burner and sat up on jack stands.
Last fall, he informed me that he would be selling the Pace Car, as well as his 86' convertible. I had been drooling over the car since I first rode in it, so I dropped all my projects, took out a small loan, and sold my existing 97' Mustang GT for the extra room. Ended up paying $3500 for it said and done, which I can't complain at all about. The engine had ~1500 miles on a complete bottom up rebuild (I'll get a parts list together at some point), the paint though not a really high quality job was fresh, and it was pretty clean inside and out (and rust free, amazingly). Every time I was in the area, we'd do a little more work to get it ready for the 3.5 hour drive up to my house.
In May, my daily driver broke down when I was visiting, so we decided to get the 79' off the stands and on the road. It was one of the most terrifying drives (at least the first hour or so) that I've made in a while. The tires were completely unbalanced, so anything above 62 mph started shaking fillings loose, it was running rich (carb still needed a proper tune) and the hatch seal isn't the greatest, so I was breathing in exhaust the whole way. To make it more entertaining, a mouse had built a nest in the blower, so when I went to test out the blower fan, smoke started pouring out of the dash, and I was convinced I was going to end up burning up my new car!
In the end, it's up here now. It's riding on the 86' GT wheels for the time being because the TRX tires are bald as can be. I may throw them on for show, but I want to be able to drive it at least a little bit.
Plans/projects:
Replica TRX wheels/BFG Radial T/A tires because I can't bring myself to pay Michelin that much for tires
Replacement stripe kit
Fix the rear bumper sag somehow and get it repainted
Put the rear seat back in
Fix lighting issue (hopefully tonight!). Dash lights and foglights inop.
Fix minor oil leak around dist
Properly tune engine
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